I feel like a maxed out credit card.

This week was mostly spent preparing for TF camp, which will last the next 4 days.

Christmas was well spent, I’d say. We had the annual Christmas dinner at my grandparents’ house. Everything from the pasta to the turkey and cheesecake were homemade, so it tasted good. This year, we didn’t have so much leftover turkey. I think it’s because Jensen is growing up and starting to eat a lot more. The four of us, Jensen, Jerome, Jean and I received brain teasers for Christmas presents. Jerome’s was the easiest and the rest of us got the toughest types. I spent the whole night trying to solve it and till now, I haven’t. I can’t even solve it while referring to the guided solution on the internet. I guess this can become some sort of lifelong quest.

I’m too lazy to post pictures myself. So please refer to Jean’s blog for some (if you are too bored). I was reading her summary on our trip and there was one line that went, “we spent the whole day snowing”. I couldn’t help but just burst into laughter. Can’t imagine what she was thinking then.

I’m still awake at 1.30am because I slept too much today. I know I’m in for trouble because I’ll have to be in church from morning till night tomorrow for Christmas rehearsal. Ah well, I hope I survive.

Seoul - Day 5

This morning, I woke up early and saw a fresh, white layer of snow outside. It wasn't very much though - obly about 2-3cm thick. But it was enough to make me happy seeing it before leaving for Singapore tomorrow.

Today, we joined a guided tour on to the De-Militarised Zone (DMZ), which is the 2km wide zone along the border on both sides of North and South Korea. In that zone, weapons are prohibited and there are soldiers on patrol. We walked through the 3rd tunnel built by North Korea and discovered by South Korea in 1978. Its unfinished end is just 58km from Seoul. Imagine if North Korea succeded in using that to attack.. The tunnel is 73m underground. Climbing back up from the tunnel was really tiring. The furthest we could go in the tunnel was just 170m from North Korea. We also went to visit other sites in the DMZ like the Doraesan Station and Freedom Bridge. Because of the North recently bombed a South Korean island, we couldn't go up the Dora observatory to look at North Korea.

The visit to ths DMZ was also like a crash course history lesson on the Korean War. I finally understand a little more about the war and the significance of the DMZ. If I ever get a chance to go again, I'd want to tour the Joint Security Area. We couldn't go this time because Singaporeans have to obtain permission at least a week before.

Before going to South Korea, I was a little worried about the increasing tension between the North and South in the wake of the recent bombings. But after living here for a week, I think the locals don't seem very concerned about the North. The people, from what I observed, are still calm. At least, more relaxed than the rest of the world watching them.

The rest of the day was spent walking around the Nandaemun area. We wanted to see the city gate but when we reached, it was under construction because a fire destroyed it in 2008. But there were lots of shops there, so we walked around. We bought stuff to cook from a supermarket and walked back all the way home.

My feet are really tired from all the walking this week. I did so much exercise without even realising. We have to wake up early tomorrow to catch the flight back to Singapore. I might post some pictures when I'm back, if I don't get buried under the pile of work waiting to fall on me when I'm back. Ok I'm going to get some rest.

Seoul -Day 4

YAYYYY!!

IT'S SNOWING!

Or as dad put it, the flakes are called flurries. I couldn't seem to remember it very well because I kept thinking they were fluffies. It's been quite a few years since I last saw snow. The last time would be when we went to Seatle and Vancouver a few years ago. Sadly, I don't think it'll snow enough to make a snow man or throw snow balls at Jean.

Tiis morning, we visited another palace called Changdeok, which complements the main palace we visited yesterday - Gyeungbokgung. Both are listed on the World Cultural Heritage list for their architechture and historical value. I think the palace is largely influenced by Chinese design because the architecture is similar to that of buildings like the Forbidden City in China, although the Forbidden City looks more prestigious and elaborate to me.

We also went to take a cable car up Mt. Namsan. From there, we could look at the Seoul city scape. We decided not to go up the Seoul tower (we were at the base) because it wasn't worth it. At the peak, there was this area with railings filled with locks. People could go there to attach locks on the rails. The locks symbolised never-ending love. We spent quite a bit of time slowly reading through some of the cheesy love messages written on the locks.

We walked around the Hanoe Bukchon Ganoe village in the afternoon. The roads are really narrow and steep because the village is on a hill. Climbing through the streets was tiring but the view was rewarding.

In the evening till late at night, we walked around Dongdaemun. We went to a toy and stationary wholesale shopping area. Jean and I got a gopd supply of stationary and I took the opportunity to get gifts for the TF committee during the jiu zhi dian li next year. We also went walked around other shopping malls in the shopping district, where dad got himself a jacket. We picked up a tub of ice cream on the way home for supper.

The temperature today was -13 to -4°C. I think I got a brain freeze, so I can't think very well now.

We're going to the De-militarised Zone (border between North and South Korea) early tomorrow so I'd better sleep now.

Seoul - Day 3

I feel very accomplished today.

We spent most of the day on foot. In the morning, we walked around Insadong, which is the area where we're staying. We visited shops along the roads, stopped by for tea at a tea house and a French bread eatery.

We gradually made our way to an old palace called Gyeongbokgung. When we reached, a mini demo ritual was taking place in the courtyard. Somehow, we got into the palace without even knowing we needed a ticket. After walking around the palace, we visited the National Folk Museum.

Most of the rest of the day was spent walking around a shopping district. We went to the Lotte shopping malls. They're really huge and have a wide variety of brands. The lightings are nice too, better than Orchard Road.

I've eaten ginseng chicken twice already. It seems to be quite popular here, and it's quite rare in Singapore.

The temperature today was -11°C. I survived it! That's why I'm feeling so accomplished. The wind chill was quite bad today too, making the cold even worse. To get a rough idea of how it felt, open your freezer and place your hand in the deep end for 10s. Now imagine there's cold wind inside your freezer and extend the time to about 12 hours. The cold stung my face and sometimes my nose seemed to lose connection with the rest of my face. Mom reminded me that in US, once the temperature climbed to 0°C or higher, Jean and I would already be out playing or cycling. I wonder how I survived that.

It was so cold today that any water seen on the ground was frozen. I even saw frozen spit on the ground.

Ok my phone's running out of battery so I'd better stop typing now.

Seoul - Day 2

Today, I spent the whole day skiing at Jisan Ski Resort. We woke up early to catch a free shuttle bus which took us to the ski resort 1.5 hours away.

We started with the easy bunny hill to warm up before proceeding to the more challenging ones. While waiting for mom and dad to slowly inch down one of the easier trails, Jean and I decided to go exploring on our own. We went up the ski lift and had the option of either the green or blue trail. I thought blue was easier, so we settled for blue. Turns out, blue was the hardest - but we only realised after going through the trauma of skiing down the trail. The hill was so steep I couldn't even see the path ahead of me. It was like skiing off a cliff. I was going so fast I couldn't turn properly. At one point, I turned too sharply and ended up skiing down backwards. I lost my balance and fell backwards with my head crashing downhill. Thankfully, my head wasn't really damaged. However, my legs skiis were twisted and I couldn't move my legs without twisting my left ankle. I started to panic because there was no one to help me get up. I decided to calm down and think of a solution. Finally, I managed to slowly inch myself up after a minute. I continued on my way downhill and fell one more time before finally reaching the base. I'm thankful I managed to ski down the hardest trail in one peice. But that was a really traumatising experience.

Most of the rest of the time was spent on the green trail, which is the second hardest level. I went on it at least six times and it was the trail I was most comfortable with. I was able to ski down the steep parts well, and I more or less perfected my turning.

We left the ski resort at about 5pm and I felt tired but really happy because I had the chance to ski again, and this time for as long as I could. When I was young, skiing was my favourite sport, even though I couldn't do it often. Today, it's still my favourite.

The temperature tonight is about minus 5 degrees Celsius. I was very cold when we go off the shuttle bus. For dinner, we bought back food and cooked it in our apartment. Food eaten at home somehow tastes better.

Seoul - Day 1

We reached Seoul this afternoon and took a bus to our serviced apartment. I'm really pleased with where I'll be spending the next few nights. The apartment is quite big and Jean and I have our own rooms. It feels a lot like home here.

After settling down, we went out in search for dinner. While walking along the streets, we went into Uniqlo and discovered that the winter stuff there are really nice and reasonably priced. I ended getting a jacket and long-sleeved heat-tech shirt.

For dinner, we ate Korean food, which was delicious and cheaper than what I usually see in Singapore. Kimchi was served free of charge, and most things were spicy (poor Jean).

The temperature here is around 0-5 degrees Celsius. I'm looking forward to tomorrow because we'll be going skiing tomorrow. That'll make it the fifth time in my life, as far as I can remember. I hope my skiing didn't deprove too much.

Alright, that's all for today. The time here is one hour faster than that of Singapore's.

I’m off to South Korea tomorrow morning. I really hope the North doesn’t get too agitated and throw any missiles or nuclear bombs.

I have so many things on my mind. This whole December is crazily busy. With the mission trip finally over, I can worry about other things now. Just trying to list out everything in my head makes my heart rate increase. Sigh. During this holiday in Korea, I’m going to make it a point not to worry myself about other things. I want to enjoy my short holiday before I receive my full-blown torture next year.

Just now, dad was looking through the Korean won he exchanged for. He realised that the notes in the whole stack were consecutive. The notes were crisp and new, and no one could bear to use them. I helped to take a picture of the nice series of numbers before he distributed them among the Chans (in consecutive numbers).

Here’s a related fact about myself: The dollar notes I keep at home are always arranged in order of their values and serial numbers. I’m just wondering, does anyone else do that too? It makes me happier because my notes are neatly arranged and I can easily select the older notes (in terms of their numbers) I want to use. And yes, I activate my notes in ascending order of their serial numbers, i.e. from the oldest to the newest.

Today, i went to help mindsville with the children's wing outing to watch Walking with Dinosaurs. I partnered X before for a recent walkathon. He requires a lot of hand holding and he has difficulties walking on his own. I usually try to ask him yes/no questions because his speech is impaired. When he saw me, he was smiling and waving happily. Before i knew it, he hobbled up to me and grabbed my hand. He paced around the waiting area and took me around, pointing at various objects, looking for my approval, then smiling and going along to another area. When it was time to board the bus, he went into the bus and patted the seat next to his. I suddenly remebered i left my ez link card at the security post and promised him i'd be back after going to retrieve it. When i got onto the bus, another helper was already sitting next to him, so when he saw me walk pass, i waved and made my way to the back to sit with jean.

When we alighted, X quickly grabbed hold of my hand again and we made our way into the indoor stadium. The stage set had scary-looking jaws protruding from the sides and the stadium was very dark. When we were just about to move down from the corridor into the stands, X suddenly grunted and jerked away. Despite gentle pursuasion from the teachers, jean and i, he was too scared of the dark and didn't want to sit in the stands. He agreed to stand above the seating area and watch the performance from there. I continued holding his hand and stood there with him while the rest went to take their seats. Rose tried to get him to hold other teachers' hands instead so i could sit down to enjoy the show, but he refused. I didn't mind, so i spent the next 2 hours of the performance holding his hand and standing beside him. One of my greatest fears was that thalassaemia minor would get the better of me since i'd have to stand for a very long time. I tried my best to get good blood circulation and although i felt slightly dizzy at times, thankfully, the episodes faded off quickly. As i held X's hands, i could feel his hands trembling slightly as the show started, and his grip tightening when the dinosaurs appeared and started roaring. The anxiety he felt might have been many times worse than whatever was on my mind. Sometimes, he'd make sudden noises, or beat his chest and smile at me (what he usually does, but i'm not sure what it means). The row of people sitting in front of us would turn back occassionally, and i'd just smile apologetically. Sometimes i did feel sorry that they had to put up with so much noise, but there were other times when i thought that it really wasn't anyone's fault.

The performance finally came to an end after what seemed like a jurasic period. We endured the 2 hours and our hands were very sweaty. I walked him back to the bus that came to pick the children up and i went off to the mrt station.

I reached home late after catching a movie with jasmine, andrew, rui quan and jean. I received a msg from rose just now saying how i made X feel special today. To be honest, it felt like the other way round. X made me feel special today because he chose me over his teachers. I know it sounds childish, but yeah.

Sadly, one day, he will have to be confined to a wheel chair. It makes me wonder why life is... What it is.

Mission Trip 2010

I’m back from the mission trip. I reached home past midnight this morning and slept all the way till noon. Now, I’m feeling refreshed although slightly overwhelmed by the workload that awaits me.

 



The mission trip team



This was my second mission trip to 大谷地 (Arunothai, Thailand). 大谷地 is in Northern Thailand, situated near the border between Myanmar and Thailand. Although the job scope for the mission trip team was similar to that of last year’s, I felt that I participated more actively this time, taking on slightly greater responsibilities and getting to know the children living in 主恩之家 on a more personal level.

Night devotion in 主恩之家

We attended the night devotions with the rest of the children in 主恩之家 – something we didn’t do last year. I had the opportunity to lead the devotion on one of the nights. I shared a few verses from Proverbs 3:5-6 and ended off by teaching them the song 我需要有你在我生命中. I was quite nervous about leading the devotion because it was an impromptu kind of thing, and I had less than a day to prepare it. People who’ve worked with me before would know that I’m the sort of person who likes to plan things early and avoid the unavoidable as much as possible. This experience, however, was memorable because in my areas of weakness, God showed how he could use me, even at the last minute.

The first night teaching children English

We were asked to help teach the children at 恩惠小学/中学 English at night. We decided to teach from Primary 4 to Sec 1, which consisted of 5 classes. For the first night, we taught two classes at a time using the church hall. We played a children’s story in English and projected the words in English. While explaining the story, we found that most of the children could not understand enough English to know what the story was about. After some evaluation, we decided to change our teaching strategy. Each of us was to take a class for the remaining two nights and use English Christian songs to teach them.



Just before splitting up to teach the children English



Teaching the P5 class English



A picture taken with some students from my P5 class.  



I was in charge of teaching the Primary 5 class (there was only one for that level). Although all of them were in Primary 5 (according to the standard of their Chinese), their ages ranged from approximately 9 to 15. On one hand, I had to deal with less enthusiastic teenagers who didn’t like being treated as kids, and on the other hand, young children who could be very noisy at times. One thing I liked about the way things were done in the school was that the lesson always began with a prayer led by one of the children in the class. Once, when I was trying to get the class to quieten down, one of the children pointed to a cane hanging on the wall, but I didn’t want to command attention from all of them like that. I taught them some songs, actions and the meanings of words. I tried my best to make the lesson as engaging as possible. On one occasion, I ended up drawing a violin on the board. Although I walked out of the classroom each time with my throat feeling sore, the pain was worth it. At the end of my last lesson, I told my class I was happy teaching them, and encouraged them to learn English well. The class gave me a really loud farewell greeting. A few children came up to talk to me, asked me to write my name on their exercise books. One of them even asked for my email. I really enjoyed teaching my class. To me, standing in front of the class and greeting them each time were moments I’ll never forget.

The campfire at 主恩之家

On Thursday night, I helped lead a campfire for the children in 主恩之家. We sang songs and I prepared constellation maps so we could do some star gazing. Stars are really one thing I like, because they remind me of how small I am compared to the universe, but how God still cares for this tiny speck.

Preparing for the children's gospel rally

Children's gospel rally

Children in my station using plasticine to make a model of a giraffe



The station I was in charge of: plasticine modelling

We held a gospel rally for the children in the school on Saturday morning. There were activity stations around the school, each manned by one of us. The stations aimed to bring out essential evangelical messages. I was in charge of the station about God’s creation. Communication with the children was a bit difficult because my Chinese wasn’t very good and they understood Thai better. There were also a number of children from minority ethnic groups who could not understand me. Thankfully, a teacher attached to my station helped me to translate. At the end of the activity time, I was alone in the classroom trying to pack up the materials. Suddenly, 2 girls from my Primary 5 class came into the classroom and asked if they could help me with anything. I was rather touched by their actions because I didn’t expect them to remember me, or even help me clear up.

Xiao Jun teaching the teachers English

逐家布道

On one of the mornings, I decided to take a break from helping xj teach the teachers English so I could join the rest for 逐家布道 (door to door evangelism). We went to a refugee area nearby. It was a really beautiful place to live at because there was a lake, fields of crops and mountains in the background. The people we visited were very friendly and welcomed us into their homes. One of the women we spoke to claimed that she was sin-less. She said she never did anything wrong before – never lied – and she has always been living a happy life. We were taken aback and didn’t know how to counter her claims. Although I spotted some contradictions in her arguments, I had no idea how to express myself in Chinese, so I just kept quiet. But this experience has reminded me that the mission trip is a spiritual battle.

Outing at the waterfall with 任焕、me、Xiao Jun、海惠、Jean、家威

A picnic by the waterfall

Last year, I regretted not getting to know the youth in 主恩之家 better. This year, I can safely say I’ve gotten to know them more. Xiao Jun, Jean and I spent our free time chatting with some of the youth my age - 任焕、海惠 and 家威. 任焕 and 海惠 woke up early to take Xiao Jun, Jean and I on morning walks to the town and to visit the market. On Saturday afternoon, They brought us to visit a waterfall and hot springs. We climbed up a bit of the waterfall and had a picnic together.



A picture taken with 李牧师, his wife and the mission trip team just before setting off



Leaving 大谷地 this year was harder. We’d gotten to know the youth much better this year by joining them for their night devotions, playing basketball in the afternoons and going out together during our free time. Thankfully, we can still keep in touch through the Internet.

I enjoyed this trip very much and if given the chance, I’ll go out to serve God again.

Me riding a motorcycle – I think I got the hang of it already!

A lake at 大谷地



Dipping in the hot spring





家威  getting baptized



海惠 getting baptized